Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm just borrowing the characters to play with for a while. This is for pleasure only, no profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.


CHAPTER SEVEN – Beginning

"Archimedes, I would like you to meet Tonks, Griphook, and Ragnok. Ragnok, Griphook, and Tonks this is my brother Archimedes."

Archimedes bowed slightly and said "Greetings Ragnok." He bowed again at Griphook and reiterated "Greetings Griphook." He stopped in front of Tonks, sized her up and sniffed the air, and turned to Harry "Yes, yes. You've picked an adequate mate Harry."

"Oh crikey," Harry said with a bowed head while Tonks just blushed. After a brief moment Archimedes, Griphook and Ragnok started laughing at Harry. Ragnok managed to add "I like your brother Harry."

Once they were more composed, Archimedes apologized to Tonks and "Sorry about that Tonks. My brother gave me a bit of playfulness that I think he inherited from another of his brothers. It is nice to see Harry unafraid to smile in the presence of a witch."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm just a big softy. Though I doubt there's too many other witches or wizards I could stomach at the moment."

Tonks was hoping this more jovial Harry would stick around for a while. "I'd like to think I'm not your run of the mill average Jane witch. So what is this place Harry? I see what you mean about your own private Hogwarts. The magic is really strong around here."

"Well, I'll give you the brief synopsis of Sanctuary here, and anyone else, please jump in and correct me. My hopes are for this to offer a save haven and alternative to any magical creatures or species that are suffering due to either inept prejudiced wizards or even just innocent bystanders to the wizarding world's war. We are sharing this island to make it a collective home, where tolerance is the name of the game. The portals you saw me set up are to allow transport to the island as it is otherwise quite hard to reach. There's very little that needs to be done other than to spread the word to the magical races and let them know there is an alternative. I'm hoping some of those who feel forced to ally themselves with wizards to survive will recognize it doesn't have to be that way. Ragnok and the goblins seem to be quite supportive of the idea. And Archimedes and the griffins have welcomed me and the idea with open arms. If anyone had rights to this island it would be them, but they're willing to share their home and assist in the settling of beings coming here."

Tonks had wide eyes and a bright smile. "You don't do things by half do you?"

Harry blushed a bit and all his friends were smiling at him. "My time in prison made me recognize it was the attitude and state of the wizarding world that has brought all of this onto the magical world. I haven't mentioned this to any of you, but while I was in there, I'm pretty sure Magic herself was communicating with me. It's how many aspects of magic became completely instinctual to me. Like Gobbledegook or how to gain family. I cannot say I learned it, I just know it."

Archimedes spoke up "Within minutes of meeting my brother I felt a connection to him. It is true some most primal force of magic is driving us to do this. The griffins would never have normally been so welcoming." He added with a smirk, "Particularly to a wizard."

Griphook spoke up with a smile, "The goblins merely go where the going is good." Ragnok chuckled and nodded at this assessment.

Dobby came out and joined them. "Hello Harry, Ragnok, Griphook, Archimedes. Miss Tonks, it is good to see you again." He finished with a small bow.

"Hiya Dobby." Tonks smiled and was still a bit in awe at the sheer scale of this 'little project' of Harry's. "So did you just discover this place or was it planned out? Well 'planned' doesn't seem right considering how quickly it's been coming together."

Harry spoke up "You know, the more I think about it, the more I think we might just be continuing on something the previous tenant knew would be coming eventually. In fact he might have been the one to bring the island back up. I should probably spend some time reading and find out."

"The previous tenant?" Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry got a mischievous smile. "Yeah this real old wizard guy. Pretty sure he's got his own chocolate frog-"

Griphook interrupted "He's got three." Everyone gave him a curious look and Griphook was blushing.

"Okay three. But he didn't call this place Sanctuary. He called it Avalon."

Tonks exclaimed "Merlin! You mean…err Merlin?"

"Yup. I recognized it in Fawkes memories as Atlantis. Hence the feeling of magic in the air."

Tonks sat down trying to process all that was going on here. The others were giving her a moment and smiling to themselves. Ragnok, Griphook, Dobby, and Archimedes were all quite glad to see Harry sharing so much.

Tonks looked up at Harry with tears in her eyes. "Here I thought you were just pissed at the world, and righteously venting a little anger by leaving the wizarding world. But all you're doing is looking past our society's short-sightedness and improving the whole magical world. Harry..." She was sniffling a bit here, "Harry, that's just wonderful and beautiful and amazing and everything that's right in the world."

Harry was blushing immensely but it seemed all his friends saw his project in a similar light. "Yeah well maybe I am just doing it piss off the wizarding world. Anyways, I still owe you three a tour of the manor at least."

A few audible scoffs and they followed Harry and Dobby as they showed off their home to Ragnok, Griphook, and Tonks.

"Hey Tonks, you mind refreshing that oath just in case? I wasn't planning on telling you everything like I have, and it'd be better for all involved to keep this from either side of the warring factions for now."

Tonks readily agreed and recast the oath. The six of them all sat outside and ate dinner further discussing plans and ideas to help build up Sanctuary. Harry informed them he was going to spend the next few days securing the island and casting all the wards they needed.

Harry escorted Tonks, Ragnok, and Griphook back through the portal to Gringotts. Ragnok and Griphook informed Tonks she only needed to talk to them and they would allow her passage through the portal in Gringotts. She understood Harry had a lot of work to do, and she would get in the way. She let Harry know, as soon as he said the word, she would gladly leave the wizarding world, and assist him in any way he wanted. Harry told her he hadn't planned on bringing in wizards or witches to the project yet, but once he felt others would be comfortable enough with it, he expected he would welcome her and offer her a room in the manor. She could tell it wasn't the others who would be unsure, it was Harry still adjusting. But before she said goodbye she did finagle her way into the hug she'd been wanting.

Harry made his way back to the manor feeling surprisingly good. He really thought he would hate being around Tonks, but he wasn't going to lie to himself. He had a really good day. And he got a very positive response from his friends helping to reassure him what they were doing was right.

The next few days Harry spent researching the scrolls Merlin had left as well as studying some books on warding. He and Dobby had completely unpacked the trunks and the massive manor felt a lot more like a personable home. He hung up the portraits and managed to awaken Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff. He decided to put up William Potter's portrait as well and conversed with the three of them. Harry was hoping William might have been a closer relative, but apparently he probably had a dozen 'greats' before his relationship of uncle or grandfather. He was born in 1630, and taught Charms and Defense at Hogwarts for 40 years. He was quite a character and had no other portraits. He discovered the Potters were the most direct line to the two founders. None of them were sure if they were the only ones left, but it was definitely a possibility. He also found that the cherry wand he had been using was in fact Godric's and from what they knew, no one else had been compatible enough with it to use it. Harry had found out enough things like this, that he wasn't even surprised though he did take some pride in his ancestors. Godric and Helga were ecstatic to hear about Harry's relationship with Hogwarts and greatly pleased he was ready to protect her.

Having heard Harry's explanation of his life story, none of them found any fault in his reasoning to abandon the wizarding world. Though Harry was a bit annoyed they kept calling it temporary. After discussing the plans for the island and the wards, in which Godric's assistance was very helpful, Harry set out to refresh and renew all the existing wards before adding new ones of his own. The island was protected against apparition, portkeys, and was unplottable. Given the size and quantity of magics required for this, Harry then took a 36 hour nap.

It had been about five days since he saw Griphook, Ragnok, or Tonks. So today he was going to check up on them, as well as approach some of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest, and time permitting some of Voldemort's allies.

Harry took the portal to Gringotts, and Griphook immediately joined him in the room and welcomed him back. They met up with Ragnok in his office.

"Welcome Harry. So far the response has been quite positive. We met with some of the oldest clans of vampires and they didn't feel it was necessary for them to move, but they were supportive of what we were doing and have been passing along the word to magical creatures and species all over. I didn't want to start shuffling beings through until we knew Sanctuary was ready for them."

"Wards and everything we need are humming nicely now. Archimedes is beginning to get eager to see some new faces I think. I was planning on going to Hogwarts first and approaching them myself. Is there anything you need from me to get started?"

Ragnok looked pensive. "If you would be willing, it would be nice to set up these portals in other places around the world. Gringotts is willing to host them, if you wouldn't mind putting them in a few places. I know some banshees in Romania were looking to relocate, as well as almost all the veela in France. Putting portals in those two places would help immensely. The veela were hoping to meet with you themselves if you don't mind. Perhaps you could talk to some creatures in the Forbidden Forest and I could arrange a meeting at the Paris branch of Gringotts. You could set up the portal there at the time too. If you're up for it and willing we could then go to Bucharest and do the same."

Harry nodded with smile. "Sounds like a plan. How about I make it back here by 4:00? That work for you?"

"Perfect. Good luck in the Forest."

And so Harry apparated to Hogwarts, thankful he could try and get all this done while it's still summer before school started back up. First stop would be the merfolk. Casting a bubblehead charm, he plunged on down to the bottom of the lake. He introduced himself to the merchieftain and explained what he was offering. They were very receptive to the idea, but for now were happy in their current location. No one had been attempting to attack them or ally with them, and that suited them just fine. They did indicate a few bodies of water where there would likely be merfolk that would want to take advantage of this opportunity and Harry made a plan to visit them. The merfolk here asked if it would be possible to have a portal set up in case they were attacked though, as it seemed they feared an attack at Hogwarts was inevitable. So far Voldemort had tried a few frontal attacks but had yet to succeed. Harry agreed but wasn't going to do it yet, as he hadn't put in a receiving portal into a body of water yet. He told them he was planning to set one up, as soon as there were aquatic beings making a new home at Sanctuary, so that someone could act as the sort of ambassador to it. Pleased with the information and response Harry moved on to the centaurs next.

Bane was every bit as kind as he had always been to Harry. Bluntness aside, he did listen to what Harry had to offer, appreciated the sentiment, but found no reason to relocate. After some discussion Harry discovered they herd had splintered into rival herds. They weren't at war with each other, but Firenze's presence was not welcome with many of the elders. Harry tracked the down other herd after some directions from Ronan, and met up with Magorian and Firenze. They were far more interested in the idea of Sanctuary and agreed to relocating. Harry informed them he was going to go talk to the acromantulas, but that if they wanted to collect their things, he would come by on his way back and lead them to the portal and their new home. He informed them portal was nearby, and naturally they would be free to leave if they found Sanctuary unsatisfactory. Readily agreeing, Magorian sought out the other herd to inform them of their departure while Harry headed towards where he knew Aragog to be.

Harry was quite confused. Aragog seemed kind and friendly with Harry and welcomed him with open arms, or at least pinchers, and gladly heard out what Harry had to say. Apparently Aragog seemed to have a similar opinion as Bane, but knew that his nest was huge and many of them may want to go with Harry. So it was a large crowd of acromantulas were following a large black griffin quickly through the forest. The centaurs coming with joined the pack and Harry showed them the portal hidden behind the Shrieking Shack. Harry went through first, and the other creatures began following through. The centaurs appeared to let all the acromantulas through first. Archimedes was quite happy to see different magical species coming together for the most simplistic common cause: a safe home. A griffin whose name Harry ashamedly couldn't remember led the acromantulas through some dense forest, most likely until they found somewhere they wanted to call their home. Archimedes took the lead with centaurs who were shocked at his odd appearance. They quickly took to him as a friend and honorary centaur given his appearance. Harry left them to it, and went back to Gringotts to meet up with Ragnok again.